Supergirl #65 Review

Supergirl goes undercover at a college.

There's currently an outcry about the lack of female creators handling DC's 52 relaunched books in September. On the bright side, the publisher has managed to coax one particularly noteworthy female writer away from Marvel to handle the final three issues of this volume of Supergirl. Kelly Sue DeConnick's first issue of Supergirl doesn't quite crackle with the same energy as books like Osborn did, but it's still a promising debut for the writer at DC.

One of the strengths of this arc is that it doesn't feel random or like a placeholder until the relaunch. DeConnick reflects recent happenings with Supergirl in the story, and even draws in Starman for a brief team-up. But the root of the story involves a series of disappearances at a college campus, which are quickly revealed to be the work of a certain familiar JLA villain. These disappearances force Kara to go undercover as a pre-frosh in order to ferret out the truth.

DeConnick mines the premise for all it's worth as far as Supergirl's characterization. The slightly awkward scenes between her and Lois are a lot of fun. The script also highlights the divide between the carefree Supergirl and the more introverted Linda Lang (or Lane, in this case) who still struggles to fit in as an ordinary civilian. It's only the supporting cast that fall a little flat in this issue. DeConnick cooks up a band of students designed to aid Kara in her search, but they tend to come across as more annoying than useful. Their dialogue also borders on bizarre at times, not reading as well on the page as it probably sounds spoken aloud.

DC also managed to score ChrisCross to pencil this arc, making for quite the unique creative team. ChrisCross page layouts are excellent, and his individual panels fluid and full of motion. Less impressive is his facial work. Characters suffer from distorted physical characteristics, bug eyes, and other unsightly quirks that too often detract from the emotion of a scene rather than further it.

The central plot only barely gets underway by the end, and the art is haphazard in its execution at times. That said, this arc is worth keeping an eye on, as it proves how much DC can benefit from having writers like DeConnick in their lineup.